Writing Post Round Up - Week of Apr 7-13, 2013

This post should have gone up on Saturday, but it didn’t.  So I give it to you now.  Enjoy!

http://wonkomance.com/2013/04/05/how-to-be-an-author/

                This is long, but good.  It’s kind of about platform, and all those things you “should” do as a professional author, but it’s more about choosing the things that will help you be a happy and productive writer.

http://bookpregnant.blogspot.com/2013/04/are-you-getting-off.html

                This one actually kind of goes along with the first link.  I love the internet.  I love reading blogs about writing, and hanging out in writers forums, and the fact that I can find almost anything with a Google search.  I enjoy following my favorite authors on Facebook (and also my friends, of course!).  But sometimes, information overload kicks in, and my head is all spinning around and I can’t think straight.  It’s exhausting.  I have to unplug for a while.  In fact, that’s probably the major cause of this post not going up on Saturday – I just DID NOT want to turn on my computer.  So yeah, this.

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/04/09/put-that-banjo-down/

                First of all, the title of this post just kind of cracks me up – and makes me want to go out and write a story that begins with the line “He put his banjo down…”  But it’s also an entertaining look at several common “beginning” pitfalls.

http://diymfa.com/writing/blogging

                And on the other side of the “unplugged” fence, here’s one author’s take on why writers should blog.

http://pbackwriter.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-hours.html

                I’m always interested in the process of other writers.  Here’s a nice look at what one author does after coming to the end of a big deadline.  I think I’d like to adopt something similar (I’ve not had a professional writing deadline yet, but I sure wish I’d had some kind of routine like this to get me through the aftermath of my last finals week of grad school!).

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/03/be-your-own-book-doctor.html

                A great set of questions to ask yourself as you’re diving into revisions.

http://rebeccabelliston.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/mbm-premise-vs-plot-by-janice-hardy/

                Here is good post to help you figure out whether your latest idea has a plot or just a premise.  I love Janice’s posts, because she always has such clear examples.  The actual post begins with the green text, after the author intro and a list of other posts in the series you may wish to check out. 

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2013/03/guest-agent-sara-megibow-is-agent-pitch.html

                Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency details a new idea for agent pitch sessions.  I’ve never actually been to a pitch session, so I have no basis of comparison, but it sounds good to me!

http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/writing-a-traditional-mystery-problems-and-solutions/

                My current WIP is kind of a mystery, although I’m not sure it fits into the traditional mystery mold.  I’m hoping this post will help me get a better handle on things.

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/03/focusing-on-writing-first.html

                Okay, I’m sensing a theme.  This post comes at it from a slightly different angle – new writers being overwhelmed by the details of publishing and platform before they’ve even completed a manuscript (ahem, that would be me) – but to me it’s really making the point that writing is the most important thing we do. 

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/2013/03/top-10-sentence-slip-ups.html

                Of course, in the midst of all the plotting, character development, platform, publishing, etc. frenzy, we still have to get the nuts and bolts right.  So here is a back to basics guide to some common mistakes (most of which I’m pretty sure I make on a regular basis – in the rough draft of course! J)

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/03/when-to-start-or-stop-series.html

                Series, series, series.  Publishers like them, readers like them, authors like them.  So how do you know when to start or stop one?  Here’s one author’s tips.

http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog/2013/03/what-if-your-writing-obstacles-are-actually-your-strengths.html

                And to wrap of this collection of links, a question.  What if the things that are getting in the way of your writing could actually help strengthen it?

That’s all folks.  Tune in next week same bat time, same bat channel (well, same bat channel anyway) for more collected links.  Happy writing!

Late Check-in and Little Progress

Not real pleased with my progress this week.  Since I've so far missed all the Wednesday check-ins, which is fine - I was thinking maybe I'll just be one of those Sunday check-in only people.  However, since I'm a day late for my Sunday check-in (spent the morning reading the rest of an awesome book, called A Turn of Light by Julie Czerneda, which I don't regret at all, but spent the afternoon watching television and folding laundry because I just didn't want to turn on my computer, which I do regret a bit), and my progress this week was kind of negligible, I'm thinking maybe shooting for a Wednesday check-in will motivate me to do better this week.

So anyway, quick update of the status of my goals:

1) Write 25,000 words

I spent most of my writing time working on a background for a D & D character - which I do count as writing practice because it's character building, and figuring out what events in my character's past actually resulted in the stats on the character sheet.  I tend to agonize over such things, and spend a lot of time reading setting books and whatnot to fill in all kinds of details.  I also rarely actually finish character backgrounds, because I spend so much time trying to make them perfect.  So the fact that I actually finished this one, even though I consider it a long way from my best work, and handed it in to the GM before the game started is a minor victory.

Wrote 2014 words this week, for a total of 5710 toward my goal.  Not horrible.

2) Post on Blog once a week - besides check-in posts
Fail.  Saturday was kind of crazy, so I didn't get my post in.  I guess that means I get to do two this week.

3) Write first draft of short story
No progress.

4) Make progress on Last Words
No actual writing progress, but a book I'm using for research came in at the library and I picked it up, so I hope to be reading that this week and making some notes.

ROW80 - Check-in

Wow!  It's the end of the first week of Round of Words already!

I'm not off to as great a start as I would like to be, but I'm not doing too badly.  I missed the first check-in on Wednesday, but I didn't really have much to report anyway, since I only posted my goals on Tuesday.

Anyway, here's my report for this week:

1) Write 25,000 words


So far I've written 3696 words this round.  It could be better, and I'd love it if they were all brilliant words that I'd want to keep for my WIP (they're not), but I'm on track to make 25k by the end of the 80 days, and I'm writing, so we'll call that a win.

2) Post on Blog once a week - besides check-in posts

My Saturday, when I had planned to post my non-ROW80 post, sort of fell apart and I didn't get any writing done yesterday.  But I decided to go ahead and write that post this morning anyway, so it might be a little late, but I did it.

3) Write first draft of short story (Fortune Taker)
No progress on this one so far - at least not writing.  I did spend a little time thinking about how I want it to go, but I definitely have to carve out some time on the calendar to DO something on it. 

4) Make progress on Last Words
No progress on this goal either.  Sigh.  I'm still trying to figure out how to work all this into my schedule.  I'll get there.

And now I'm going to see if I'm smart enough to get the Blog Hop code to work...

Writing Post Round-Up - Week of Mar 31-Apr 6, 2013

A few months ago I started collecting links to blog posts about writing for my writing group and posting up to ten of my favorite posts each week.  I try to choose a variety of topics each time, so that they’re not all posts about character development, or writer insecurities, or outlining – you get the idea.  But I also tend to choose the posts that spoke to me that week, so sometimes there’s a theme.  And then I add a little blurb on what the post is about and why I liked it, so that people can decide whether or not it’s relevant to them.  

NOTE: These links are drawn from the posts I read this week, but may have been originally published at any time.  I get behind in my RSS feed, and sometimes I find links to awesome older posts that I want to share.  

http://miriamjoywrites.com/2013/03/27/insecure-writer-bingo/

                There are a fair number of “writer insecurity” posts in my collection of late.  I’ve been having a really tough time with my writing lately, so it helps to read posts from other writers going through the same thing.  It seems most writers have times when they feel like their writing is crap, so it’s nice not to be alone.  This one is cute because it has a little bingo card to fill out – maybe making a game out of our insecurities makes them less dark and scary?

http://www.yarnagogo.com/blog/2011/11/how-to-revise-your-novel.html

                Revision kind of terrifies me.  This is possibly do to the fact that I’ve only ever finished one first draft so that I could revise it (it’s out to a beta reader now, after I ignored it for nearly a year), so it’s like this big dark cave of the unknown.  So I save lots of revision advice articles.  This post is of notes from Rachael Herron’s workshop on her revision method.  I like the step-by-step instruction format.

http://cateartios.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/elizabeth-ann-mitchell/

                Elizabeth Anne Mitchell’s musings on the “write every day” rule.  This post just really resonated with me this week.

http://www.magicalwords.net/john-hartness-2/matters-of-life-and-death-well-mostly-death-really/

                Magical Words is one of my favorite writing blogs, so the next three links are from there.  It’s mostly geared towards fantasy writers, but I think some writing advice is universal.  This post from John Hartness is about when and how to kill off characters.

http://www.magicalwords.net/misty-massey/weaknesses/ 

                It seems like we spend a lot of time talking about how our protagonists should be flawed – because who wants to read about a perfect guy (or girl)?  Here’s a post on weaknesses for your villains.

http://www.magicalwords.net/mindy-klasky/backing-up/

                Learning your craft is important, but so are some other basic procedures.  A post on the importance of backing up your work.

http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/03/writing-contests-when-to-enter-when-to-run/

                Thinking about entering a writing contest?  They can be an awesome ego and career boost if you pick the right ones.  Here’s a post about what to look for.

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/04/02/notes-from-a-desk-2-respecting-your-process/

                Writer Unboxed is one of my other favorite blogs.  As I mentioned, I’ve been having a really hard time with my writing lately.  This post reminds me to respect MY process, even if it’s not the same as someone else’s .  Every writer has to find the way that works for them.

http://girlgeniusadventures.com/2013/04/04/publish-perish/

                And finally, some news from the land of publication, and a reminder to be careful of our contracts. 

That’s all for this week’s Writing Post Round-Up.  Stay tuned for more writing fun next week!

Goals for A Round of Words

So, because I often need external assistance in keeping my goals, and because my writing output has been completely pathetic for the last 2 months, I've decided to try this challenge called "A Round of Words" (check it out here).

I was hoping to get my blog all updated and shiny new before the start of this round, but it didn't happen (see above about my success with keeping goals).  Basically I managed to put a new out-of-the-box theme on it, but couldn't figure out how to do any editing.  Sigh.  Pay no attention to the ancient posts behind the door.

Anyway, goals.  Here, without further ado, are my goals for my first Round of Words:

1) Write 25,000 words.

I've been having a terrible time actually sitting down at the keyboard and writing, so I'll basically be happy if I write anything (blog posts, work on any of my works-in-progress, character sketches, writing exercises, etc.  Except for day job stuff.  That doesn't count).  Words written in pursuit of the goals below also count towards this goal.


2) Post on blog at least once a week

Not counting check-ins for Round of Words.  Doesn't have to be a fancy post, just a post.

3) Write first draft of short story

There's this idea I have for a short story that I've been meaning to write for a while.   So, here goes the first draft.

4) Make progress on Last Words

Last Words is the working title for my novel-in-progress.  I started it for NaNoWriMo last year, and I'd really like to finish a draft.  I still have a lot of work to do on the research end and the plot is a little stuck right now.  This isn't a particularly measurable goal I guess (how much progress do I have to make before I've met the goal?).  I suppose let's say I have to take some action towards finishing this novel at every check point, whether that be research, character sketches, or writing actual scenes.

So there are my goals.  I'm looking forward to a productive 80 days and hopefully getting to know some of the other folks participating in this challenge.

Leslie

Watching Grass Grow

Today I watched grass grow.  I lay on my stomach on the perfectly manicured lawn next to the business building on campus and watched.  And it was beautiful.

Okay, so I didn't actually see any growth happen.  And I wasn't just lying there watching.  I was writing.  About the grass.  And the sun was warm on the back of my black jeans, and a soft breeze whispered over my skin.  And I thought about grass growing.  I thought of how it takes so long that we can't see it happen, but we know it does, because on the weekend we have to mow it.  I heard the cars go by, and saw people rushing on the sidewalk.  And I thought about how I always seem to be running places and there's always something that has to be done right now.

But I was very happy in that moment in the sun, in the grass.  And I thought, maybe we would all be happier if we took time out more often to just be.  To watch grass grow.

Little Things That Make Me Happy

Pretty cupcakes.  Tuesday I finished my final exams for spring.  I went over to the University Center to get some lunch, and they had these gorgeously decorated little cupcakes.  Now, cupcakes in general make me happy, but pretty cupcakes make me even happier.  So I bought one.  (Don't fret for my health, I had a sandwich too.)  Then I took a picture of it with my phone, because I found I couldn't ingest such perfection without documenting it somehow.  And then I ate it, and it was fabulous.  It pretty much made my day.

Fun Musical soundtracks.  Specifically [title of show].  (No, really, that's what it's called).  I think this is probably one of the most brilliant shows written in the 21st century.  It has poppy upbeat music and clever, roll-on-the-floor-laughing-out-loud lyrics.  It's a musical about writing a musical - what's not to love?  It makes me smile to listen to just one song.  Of course it has moments of profound truth, too.  My favorite song from the show is "Nine People's Favorite Thing" with the lyrics "I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing than a hundred people's ninth favorite thing."  The song has a pretty powerful message about following your own artistic instincts instead of trying to please everyone.  Since this is something I struggle with on a daily basis, this song makes me doubly happy.

Random acts of music and dancing.  We had our very own flash mob in the library yesterday.  I don't know who organized it, but ours was entirely violence free and definitely a little pick-me-up in the middle of finals week.  I have to disagree with Wikipedia's statement that these groups always perform "pointless" acts, though.  How can anything that relieves stress and puts smiles on so many peoples faces be pointless?  Here's the video.